A Collection of Short Stories
by River Eagle
Summary: A couple of short stories that I've written, some of them are sad!
1. Yours Truly

_**Athor's Note:** This is from Mara's point of view. It is set any time between Last Command and when Luke asked Mara to marry him._

_Lucas owns Star Wars, so yeah. I'm not getting any money from this. I'm just writing this for my enjoyment, and hopefully others. Please review!_

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**Yours Truly.**

I see his face. I hear his voice. He is with me each time I lay my head on my pillow. Each time I think of him, I see him as I last saw him — the last time I ever spoke to him.

I don't know why I keep on thinking of him with his sandy blond hair and his understanding sky-blue eyes. Whenever he looked at me, it seemed as though he was looking right into my heart and I blush at the thought. I don't want to think of him. It hurts too much. The more I think of him, the more I realise that my heart belongs to him. His sweet Tatooine smile flashes in my mind and I can't help thinking of him. He haunts me. How else can I describe the feelings that I have of him watching over me? He is always going to be in my mind.

I lie awake at night worrying whether my attitude and attraction to him is simply my imagination. Nothing good will come from worrying about it, but I can't help it. He's always there. He's always going to be there.

Things happened between us and I pulled away because I was scared of facing my heart. I didn't want to. Now, I'm scared because I have to face the future without him. I told him that I wasn't scared of anything, but I was scared of letting him in and of what he had done to me. Now I think of it, he is always going to be with me, no matter what. Now and always.

I think back to the last message he sent after I left him on Yavin IV. I know it. It is written on my heart, engraved there as an everlasting reminder of him.

_Mara, I know we didn't part on the best of terms, but please, hear me out.  
__My life would never be the same without you. I can honestly say that without you in my life, things would have been different to say the least. You are a soothing tonic for me and I want you to know that I'm finding it more and more difficult to ignore the plea in my heart.  
__I hate to deny it. I've been denying it ever since it crossed my mind, but now, I don't think that it's possible for me to ignore it any more. I have accepted it. I love you, Mara. I just want you to know that I'm in love with you and I want us to be together.  
__No matter what happens between us, Mara, not matter what you choose; you will always be welcomed in my home. You are a part of me that I don't ever want to lose. I hope our paths cross again in the future.  
__Yours truly,  
__L.S._

I say it over and over to myself. If only I had the chance to make it up to him. If only we met again. If only I could tell him how I truly feel then, maybe, I can rest in peace. I fear we will never meet again, except by some divine intervention.

I pull out the message and re-read his words one last time. A single tear makes its way down my face as I read the last words over and over, eventually saying them aloud. "Yours truly, L.S."

I know that this message I hold is one of the two things that I have of his. The second, I know now, is his heart.

I can admit it now, if only to myself. I know that my heart is telling me that we are meant to be together. But our time will never come. I know that. Only now, a year later, I let the news sink in. Luke Skywalker will never die in my heart, but he will never return to taste the sweet air of life.

_No matter what happens, Mara,_ I hear him say in my heart, causing it to jump, _I'll always be yours, truly. Luke Skywalker._


	2. The Other Half

_**AN:** Lucas owns SW. This story is from Wedge Antilles POV and is set in the NJO series. I suggest a box of tissues would be good to have!_

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**The Other Half**

Looking down at the band of gold circling my ring finger, I marvel at its design. There are no cracks or slits in it, it is simply a band of gold going around forever, and it's never going to stop.

My heart does a little flip inside my throat as I think back to the time Iella had given it to me. I still can picture her face as she slid the ring onto my finger. I can remember her glowing smile as I wrapped my arms around her.

I remember the long nights that we spent together after our wedding. I remember the times that I spent with her and our girls, and those times are the memories that I hold on to. Those times were few and far between because of my job. But I didn't care about that, as long as I remember the times that I did have with my family.

I feel hot tears begin to roll down my face. My eyes are drawn back to the ring on my finger. Those times that I remember Iella are important to me, no matter what, and the ring reminds me of those times.

I wipe my eyes, but I can't stop my tears. I can't forget about what had happened and what I saw. I am glad that my girls did not have to witness it. They were not on the planet. Iella – I swallow as I remember – Iella was killed before my very eyes. Sobbing, I can just picture her killers, even now. It was the Yuuzhan Vong. Yuuzhan Vong warriors are relentless with their prisoners and sacrificed whom they saw fit. If Luke had not held me back, I would have sacrificed myself to be by her side. He had stopped me from joining her, even when I had turned against him. I hurt so much that I didn't see the honour in her death. For me, there is no honour in her death. Only in her life.

I have been without the other half of my soul for nearly three years now, and it still doesn't get any easier. My eyes blur as I wipe them again. My tears continue to find their way down my face and they drop onto the gold band on my hand. Nothing could be as excruciating as to losing Iella on that day, and I know I would have died beside her if Luke had not been there beside me.

He stopped me because he knew something that I had overlooked in that painful moment of losing the one I love, and that something is my daughters. He stopped me because my daughters needed me.


	3. Reminders

_**AN:** This is from Luke's POV. Goes with 'The Other Half'. NJO series. :) Please Review._

_I hope you like this. :) River Hobbit 216 (AKA: Nicolae 216)_

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**Reminders**

Where do I begin? Ben, you remember that gold band, that ring, which you asked about? Mara placed that ring there, the one I always wear.

I've always marvelled at its design and I can remember the day that Mara had put it there. I will always remember the way she looked on that day. Not only her physical beauty, but the way she looked at me too. But there is something else about that day that I remember. On that day, she gave me this ring and made a promise. The ring is a symbol of that promise.

**_swallow_ **It means that she promised me that her love for me would never end. Our love would last as long as the band did. It goes around; never breaking, never stopping; and Mara had promised me that her love for me would be like that. That is what the ring symbolises.

Nothing can take that love away from us, but something can part me from Mara.

_**sob**_ Artoo... switch it off.

* * *

Okay... maybe now I might be able to continue. _**breath out**_ Mara was a very special part of my life. _**sniff**_ And she was beautiful. Ben, you remind me a lot of her. She always wanted a boy.

She wanted you, and I do too. _**sniff**_ I can't help but think of her when I look at her.

_**breath in and sigh**_ I can't...** _sob_** turn it off.

* * *

I saw her die. I was with her when they came, when they raided Kuat. They were looking for us, and they found us. I still don't know how they knew we were on that planet. Or maybe, they had decided that Kuat would be the next planet they'd take. All I know is that Mara and I were the last ones on the planet's surface. The only exceptions were Wedge and Iella Antillies.

Only two of us survived it.

_**heavy breathing**_ I'm sorry... this is so hard...

_**whistling from Artoo**_ No Artoo. I need to do this... I have to do this for Ben.

_**sniff**_ Iella was killed first. Wedge was so distraught at seeing Iella's fate that he would have thrown away his own life to join her. _**swallow**_ I stopped him because I remembered his children. He had swung a punch at me to get me to release him. I held onto him and with Mara's help, we calmed him down.

_**gasp**_ Artoo, switch off.

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Wedge wanted to go back for Iella's body, and I could understand why he wanted to. Neither Mara or I didn't want to, but we did for his sake. There were only three of us against an army of Yuuzhan Vong. We had waited ten minutes before retracing our steps, hoping that we could go in and get the body.

We did manage to get it. Wedge broke down when he saw it, and I don't blame him. He had lost his wife. _**gulp**_

They came after us when we were almost at the ship. Mara had run back to defend Wedge as he could not defend himself. He held Iella's body in his arms. I turned back to help them, but Mara told me to get the ship warmed up. I did.

Mara _**sob**_ never made it to the ship. _gasp _She...**_sniff_ **wanted me to... **_sniff_ **tell you... _**sniff**_ that she loves... **_sniff_ **you, Ben.

_**profound sobbing** _Off.

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I watched it all from the view port. I saw her fight them off in slow motion, and I knew in my heart that she would never make it. There were too many of them.

But I couldn't get myself to lift off without her. There was no way that she could make it to the ship. They swarmed. I could see a wall of them building around her and a streak of blue as she fought.

That blue streak was from her lightsaber, which I knew would be destroyed the moment that she was killed.

_**deep breathing**_ I saw them strike her down. In that moment, I felt something torn from within my soul, within my very being. _**intake of breath, sniff**_

I almost lost it after it happened. I almost turned. I was so hurt and grief stricken, it all but took control. If it hadn't been for Wedge and for you, I would have gone over. I was temped, but I didn't give in.

I need to calm... **_sniff_ **turn it off.

* * *

Ben, the last words I ever heard her voice say was this: "I love you. Tell Ben that I love him too."

I never want you to go through what I went through that day. Just remember what you have asked me about the ring and what it means.

_**sniff**_ I'll never forget what it means. _**deep breathing**_ Mara... she said... that I... _**exhale**_ I'm sorry. It's too hard. I can't forget the horrors of that day. But I know I miss her.

Ben... don't ask me again, please. I... don't think I'll ever... be ready to talk... about her. I don't... want to forget her, but I want... to forget the pain of losing her. She was... everything to me. You are, now. _**wipes eyes**_

Just please, don't ask me again.

_**forlorn whistling from Artoo**_ Yeah, Artoo. Shut it off.

* * *

_There will always be people who are strong for evil. The stronger you become, the more you're tempted. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker._


	4. Goodbye

_Luke, the Force is strong in your family. There **is **another…_ Yoda's voice echoed in my mind. I looked down at my sister—my twin—and I inhaled deeply. Ever since I had learnt of our relationship, I had wanted her to know the truth. But I didn't know how I was supposed to do that. Looking her over, in my heart I knew she deserved the truth—all of it. She's strong. She always has been strong.

"I have to face Vader," I told her quietly, placing some of my weight on the vine railings hooked to the secluded walkway we were on. I was at a loss for words, and that was all I could manage to say. And I desperately wanted her to understand, but she couldn't without the full truth. There was no easy way about that.

She shook her head at me. "I don't understand Luke. Why must you face him?" She held her tears back, but I could see them congregating at the corners of her eyes. I reached out with the back of my hand to dry her eyes.

"He's—" I started, and then, my voice softened as I continued, for some reason thinking that it could soften the blow of my ancestry, "my father." I looked back into her eyes. Telling her the truth about who he was to me, to **us**, was the hardest thing I ever had to do. And what was coming was even harder.

"Your father?" she asked, disbelievingly.

I nodded and bit my lip. "There's more, Leia, but it won't be easy for you to hear, but you must. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for the Alliance."

"Luke!" Leia quilled. "Don't talk that way! You have a power that I can never understand, that I could never have!"

"You're wrong," I put it blandly. "You have that power too. In time, you will learn to use it like I have." I stopped and looked down at our entwined fingers._ There **is** another…_ "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it, and—" I paused as I looked back to her face, not really knowing how she was going to take the news. But I had to tell her. "—My sister has it." Her eyes clouded as she thought of my words. I held my breath, waiting for her to look at me. When she did, I said, "Yes, Leia. It's you."

"I know," she breathed quietly. "Somehow, I've always known."

"Then you know why I must face him," I pleaded, wanting her to understand the longing I had to bring Father back to the good side.

She pulled away. "No! Run away. Run far away. If he can feel your presence then leave this place. I wish I could go with you."

I could see her tears trickling down her face and I pulled her into my arms to comfort both of us. "No you don't," I whispered reassuringly. "You've always been strong. I **must **face him."

"Why must you confront him?" she asked brokenly.

I pulled away and used my real hand to wipe away her tears. "Because there is good in him. I have felt it."

"Good?" she retorted. Noticing my own tears, she suddenly knew that this wasn't easy for me either. We embraced each other one last time before I made my retreat. Before I left her there, I leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Walking away from her in that moment, and telling her the truth was the hardest decision that I had ever made. I hated it. What I had told her had to have been one of the most devastating things that I probably had to tell her and I couldn't be there to comfort her, but I couldn't have stayed any longer, else I would have endangered them all.

I didn't know where I would go first after leaving the village. I had to be a long way from the group—all of them—before allowing myself to be captured. And I had to calm down my emotional state if I was going to do what I set out to do—that of saving Father.

I didn't know of which direction I wandered in, or for how long. All I remember doing was calming myself down and sending reassuring thoughts to Leia, who gratefully accepted them. I wished there had been something more I could have done for her. I wished that I was with her as she processed the information.

I guess it was near midnight when I decided to let someone catch me and take me to Father. By then, I had thought through my situation and decision. My father's life was worth my sacrifice. And the team's mission on Endor needed to be completed, and without me to endanger them, it would work.

I sensed them come to arrest me and I pulled my lightsaber from my belt. Flicking it on, it appeared just in time to deflect four laser bolts shot at me. I deflected all of them into the ground and called, "I do not want to harm you. I will come peacefully."

The leader came and stood before me. I handed him my lightsaber without question and rested my wrists together, held out so he could place binders on them. He nodded to his men, who came to grasp my upper arms as he placed the binders on my wrist. "Are there more of you?" the commander demanded.

"No," I lied. "There are no others."

He told the others to make certain that I would not escape, he lead the group to the bunker, where Father was waiting for us. As we entered, Father's harsh breathing thundered in my ears.

"This is a rebel that surrendered to us," the commander said. "He was armed only with this." He handed over my lightsaber to Father.

"Very good, commander."

"Though he denies it, I believe that there may be more of them out there."

"Continue your search and bring them to me," Father seethed. The commander nodded and left with his men. I stood in the empty corridor, watching the only other occupant closely. He broke the silence that had surrounded us. "The Emperor has been expecting you."

I nodded slowly. "I know, Father."

"So you have accepted the truth." He turned to me and looked me over.

I didn't bother to look back at him. "I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father." _If I lost it…I just wouldn't. There **is **another…_

Tuning on me viciously, he hissed, "That name no longer has any meaning for me."

This time, I did face him. "It is the name of your true self that you've only forgotten," I pleaded. "I've sensed the conflict within you, let go of your hate."

"Obi-Wan once thought as you do."

_Does that surprise you, Father? He trained me._ I moved to stand by one of the rails in the corridor as Father looked my lightsaber over. I could sense him do it. The familiar snap-hiss of the blade filled the room. "I see you have constructed a new lightsaber for yourself. Very impressive." The blade shut off and I heard him sigh.

"There is good still left in you, Father."

His tone was that of defeat. And I knew that I couldn't persuade him otherwise. "It is too late for me, son."

I looked at him with sorrow filled eyes, feeling my hopes deflate with that one comment. I had told Leia that I could turn Father back to the Lightside. But I was wrong. Yoda was right. _Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny._

What was I supposed to do then? Give it all up? I couldn't do that—that was out of the options. And I remembered that I, too, had touched the dark path. When I found out the truth of my father. And I had come back. Was there hope still? I then remembered Leia—my sister. I had to return, if only for her. But the man before me… what was he?

He said it himself… _It is too late for me._ It is never too late. But there seemed to be no hope for the man who was my father. Obi-Wan had told me that Vader had betrayed and murdered my father. And I'm beginning to see that.

I sighed and gazed into his black mask. "Then my father is truly dead."


	5. Dance with the Night

_This story is AU to 'The Unifying Force' in the New Jedi Series. It is set a few months after NJO series is complete and is from Luke's point of view_

**Dance with the Night**

_Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? Batman._

She used to love to dance. All the time. She taught me. I was never really any good at it, but she was. I loved to watch her dance. But she doesn't dance any more. Not in the physical sense. She hasn't danced since the war started. Not since the Vong came. There wasn't time and since the war, she hasn't had the heart.

It was hard to let go.

I can hardly remember what it feels like to be in her arms and sway to slow music. It's been so long.

I'm not sure tears are allowed where I am now, but I feel like crying. Ever since the war ended, I've been keeping a close eye on my wife and my son. Watching them brings pain. Especially when I look at my wife.

Ever since I first knew her, I knew she liked to dance. She thrived on it. Now, the only dance she does is in the night. She slips away into the darkness, the inky blackness, of the night. And I can't follow. It's like I'm watching her flirt with another man. That would make me jealous. Where I am, I am unable to feel the negative human emotions.

Which is why I can't follow.

It tears at my soul to watch her dancing with another man. I can see the effect it has on Ben. He suffers just as much as my wife. And he doesn't even remember. That breaks my heart. To him, I am just a name. I wish I could hold him and watch him learn to dance from the woman who taught me. I still can watch him learn, but not from her.

She can't think straight. She can't see where I am. She can't see the light. So she's still in the night, where no one can reach her. Least of all, me. In the darkness, she dances with the night. And she seems to have forgotten the sweet memories we had together.

Beyond the grave, I mourn like those of the living.

Mara, love, if you can hear me, stop dancing with the night.

_Fin._


End file.
